Sweat is an a cappella opera for nine singers by Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton about the global garment industry. It was commissioned and developed by Soundstreams with the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council and Opera.ca and was premiered in New York City this past October.

Scored for chorus and four soloists performing in English as well as Cantonese, Ukrainian, Spanish, and Hungarian, Sweat seeks to bring the audience into the heart of a contemporary sweatshop. What do these workers dream of while sewing sleeves all day? Was life better in the village left behind? What choice did they make? Plunging headfirst into the ethical conundrums of the garment trade, this opera offers a window into the lives of the workers who clothe us.

Immediately evoking the environment of the sweatshop, Palmer’s score falls in and out of musical grooves as she contrasts the sonic world of the factory floor with the lyrical hopes and dreams of the women who labour there.